May 15th Rotary Wheel
We have a new member Michael Green, he is an attorney will be joining Rotary.
Also- we need a few more volunteers to hand out bicycles, contact Harold for more information.
FARMER'S MARKET
We're in serious need for more bodies at Saturday's Farmer's market 1st shift. Jan is good, but can't do it all by herself! Sign up today!
VALLEY HIGH
We need someone to hand out our scholarships at Valley, 7pm on Thursday- contact Doug Hillman if you are interested.
SGT OF ARMS
Russ VerPloug was born and raised in West Des Moines. He is an architect that specializes in environmentally sensitive design and designs all types of architecture. He and his wife Patty, met in graduate school and moved to Des Moines in 1985. They have two daughters, one at Roosevelt and one at John's Hopkins. He is an ultra-light pilot and spends time riding bicycles and playing tennis.
May 15th presentation: Amy Barth from Arbor Springs spoke about understanding Alzheimer's and dementia
Amy is the administrator of Arbor Springs, which is the only facility in Iowa that works exclusively with dementia. Dementia is a progressive degenerative disease that affects memories, thinking and emotion. There are several types of Dementia, the main four are Alzheimer's, Vascular dementia, Parkinson's and Lewy Bodies. Amy shared with us several antidotes about working with people suffering from Dementia, emphasizing the need to keep one's sense of humor about the social filters that disappear with stages of dementia.
Dementia affects women more than men but that is in large part due to the fact that they live longer. Dementia symptoms increase gradually over time, but on the average individuals live 4-8 years after diagnosis. Alzheimer's is the most common type of Dementia. Statistically speaking, by the time you are 80 years old there is approximately a 50% risk of getting it. Family history does play a role in the probability of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Nationwide in 2011 5.4 million people in the United States were suffering from Dementia, a total of 69,000 Iowans. This number is up 6% since 2007, and continues to rise. It is important to note this number is the diagnosed accounts, many more are not diagnosed yet with these diseases.
Dementia is the 6th leading cause of death nationwide, and the 5th leading cause for those 65 and above.
For more information about Dementia or to download your free guide to these diseases, go to the Arbor Springs website: www.arborsprings.org/